BMW to beat Audi to the race track with laser lights

Company outfitted four Z4 GT3s with the innovative headlights

Audi and BMW have been duking it out over who will use laser headlights first and now the latter company has hit back with the deceleration that BMW Motorsport will become the first manufacturer to compete at a race with laser headlights.

While the laser light equipped R18 e-tron quattro was unveiled last December, BMW has outfitted four Z4 GT3s with the innovative headlights. The cars will compete in a qualifying event this weekend, so BMW says they will become the first cars to use laser headlights in a race. However, we're sure Audi would dispute that qualifying is the same as an actual race.

Regardless, BMW says the laser headlights have several high-performance diodes that "emit a strongly bundled beam via special lenses onto a fluorescent phosphorus substance inside the headlamp." The company goes on to say the laser lights are more than 40 percent brighter than the previous xenon units.

According to BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, “It is no coincidence that the first time we use the new laser light technology in a race will be on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. As a demanding test laboratory, this circuit has always played a key role in the development of BMW cars and our racing cars. For this reason, I am delighted we can now achieve another milestone there with the first use of laser light at a racing event."

Source: BMW